The tension within the makeshift war room was so thick the proverbial knife would have snapped in half trying to cut through it. A metaphorical sledgehammer might have done the trick but, as far as evocative imagery went, it simply didn’t have the same impact. Running a weary hand down her face, Oralia left the crafting of idioms to the experts and turned at last to the only member of her team she had not yet addressed. Ever the strong silent type, Dewpetal stood alongside the doorway with an expression that assured everyone in the room she knew exactly what was going on, language barrier be damned.
Dewpetal spoke Yolcavisch, the dominant language of the swamplands. Despite Oralia’s best efforts, she simply didn’t have the ear for it. She stressed the wrong syllables, bungled her inflections and, according to Lingon, butchered tenses like a meat merchant drunk on fermented yak milk. Thanks to Lingon’s many, many degrading lessons, Oralia could at least offer the traditional Yolcavisch greeting without stuttering.
At least she hoped she did. Entrusting a Stoneclaw to teach her the correct translation and not some horrid insult was an honest to gods concern.
Oralia greeted Dewpetal in the goblin’s mother tongue. Dewpetal merely nodded, responding in the same manner she always did. That was as far as Oralia’s linguistic abilities could take her. She relied on Mul to translate the rest. “Tell Dewpetal that this is not her fight and that if she wishes to leave, she may accompany Rali and Kalihn back to Adderwood.”
Battle was not the Stoneclaw clan’s only strong suit. Unbeknownst to most, the mountain folk were quite gifted in their command of other languages as well. From a geographic standpoint, Oralia supposed it made sense. The Iron Ridge was a long sliver of territory surrounded on all sides by three larger nations. Oralia firmly believed the mountain folk had learned fluency not out of necessity, but for the mere want of yelling obscenities at their neighbors in a shared tongue.
Mul worked through Oralia’s message slowly, relying on an abundance of hand gestures and exaggerated facial expressions to get his point across.
Dewpetal wore a slightly amused expression on her gnarled face as she patiently waited for Mul to finish. She copied his manner of speaking, offering a slow, methodical response, as one would when negotiating with a toddler.
“She wants to know if her performance has been…” Mul looked back at Dewpetal and confirmed the word once more before finishing his statement. “Unsatisfactory?”
Gods no. The goblin was not only lethal, but managed to do it without questioning a single order. Not to mention the lack of complaining. And while all of this could merely be chalked up to the language barrier, Dewpetal seemed genuinely happy to be helpful. Something with which Oralia had very little experience. If only the goblin’s habits would have rubbed off on the others.
“Unsatisfactory?” Oralia repeated. “No. I would dare say her performance has been exemplary.”
Mul recrossed his arms. “In that case, Dewpetal says she’s a little insulted that you’re trying to send her away. She intends to honor her contract in full.”
That could prove to be an issue. Not that the goblin wished to keep fighting, but that Oralia’s financial reserves would only last so long. As much as she wished for the situation in Lonebrook to be resolved in a timely manner, that was rarely the case with these sorts of things. “I cannot hold Dewpetal to a contract if I do not have the funds with which to pay her. There is only enough silver to retain her services for a few more weeks at most.”
Dewpetal’s facial expression changed when Mul communicated this to her. She rattled off a series of words that were a little too quick for him to catch. After a few back and forths, Mul was able to work out the reason why. “Money won’t be an issue. Says she’s doing it for redemption.”
“Are you sure that is what she said?” Perhaps Oralia had been too hasty in sending Lingon on his way so soon. He was undoubtedly the better translator of the two. She wondered if there was still time to run out and catch him.
Unaware of Oralia’s thoughts, Mul carried on his explanation. “Apparently Dewpetal suffered some kind of disgrace back in the flatlands? Anyway, this is her way of proving herself.”
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
While helping dismantle the realm certainly had the potential to elevate the goblin’s status in the eyes of her fellow swamplanders, this seemed like an overly complicated way of doing so. Once more, Oralia pressed Mul for clarification. “Are you positive that you are translating that correctly?”
Mul lifted one burly shoulder on a careless shrug. “She said it worked for Snag.”
Had it? That too seemed strange. Unfortunately, Oralia did not have the time nor mental wherewithal to sift through the finite pieces for the bare facts of the matter. She would not turn down a helping hand, particularly when it was a competent one. At such a convenient price, too.
“Very well. Company dismissed.” A wave of Oralia’s hand sent everyone but Rali filing out into the adjoining hallway.
Oh gods, here it was. The fight Oralia had been dreading all morning. She braced herself for the onslaught, but said nothing, preferring for Rali to to be the first to launch the verbal assault.
The dwarf was abnormally silent. With her lower jaw locked and shoulders squared, Rali marched over and planted both palms onto the table with a slam. She followed Oralia’s example and said nothing, content to stare with narrowed, unblinking eyes.
The staring contest lasted nearly half a minute before Oralia was forced to concede. The wooden chair legs creaked beneath her in protest as she leaned back with a sigh. “Please do not render this molehill into a cliffside.”
“Mountain,” Rali corrected.
Oralia supposed Rali would know. She was, after all, the expert at creating mountains of issues wherever she went. Oralia didn’t mind so much when they were on the same side, but today was different. For the first time in a long time, they were not of the same mind and Oralia’s opinion would not be swayed, come hell or high water.
Which is why Rali’s next words, spoken low, like a gravely hiss, caught Oralia completely by surprise. “I’ll do it.”
Oralia waited, cautiously, as if expecting a follow up statement that would render Rali’s acceptance void. “You will?”
“Not because you’re telling me to,” Rali clarified, “but because you’re right. Short of going yourself — which I would argue for if I didn’t already know it’d be a waste of good breath — I am the only one those Adderwood fuckos might listen to.”
An unexpected wave of relief washed over Oralia, easing some of the heat from her face. “Thank you, friend.”
“Don’t you ‘friend’ me, missy! We’re going to lay down some ground rules first.”
“Again, when was it you become my mother?”
“You think this is the role I want? You’re supposed to be the responsible one, not me!” Typically this is where a normal person would start to count off on their fingers, using their digits as a visual tally. Rali went for a more creative approach and relied solely on one, raising her middle finger with the introduction of each new rule. “Now, number one: no doing anything stupid or reckless until I get back. Number two: don’t go near the village. Don’t talk to strangers. Bring a jacket with you even if it doesn’t feel cold and lastly, don’t even think about getting all chummy with Briony while I’m away. If I come back and you two are best friends, I will bring the full might of all seven realms of chaos down upon you!”
“As opposed to channeling that might at the enemy?”
“I guess that’s up to you, isn’t it?”
Oralia could not fight the smile that broke across her weary face. She stood, walked several steps around the table, and pulled Rali in for a hug. “I could never replace you.”
Rali squeezed back. “Damn right, you can’t. I am the stubborn tick in your side and you’re stuck with me whether you like it or not!”
“Do me one favor,” Oralia said.
“No, never! You’ve all exhausted all my favors. What, with sending me away when you’re at your most vulnerable. Who’s supposed to protect you and the wee one, huh? You think Sascha’s going to sit at the foot of your bed and keep watch for would-be intruders all night long?”
“I would prefer you stopped doing that, actually.”
“Well wish granted, because I won’t be here. ‘Cause of you and your cockamamie plans!”
This was not the fight Oralia had expected. It was going rather smoothly, all things considered. She still had two fully functioning kneecaps and Rali hadn’t threatened to start breaking the furniture. Oralia stood back and placed her hands on Rali’s shoulders as one did when imparting pertinent information to someone whose attention wandered as aimlessly a stray dog. “As I was saying, do me a favor and save all of this dramatic energy for Adderwood. It is going to take everything you have got to sway their council.”
Rali stood back and snapped off a sharp salute. “Use fire and explosives, got it.”
“That is not what I said.”
“Look at you using that brain of yours.” Rali tapped the side of her nose as she swung about and stomped for the door. “Plausible deniability. Smart thinking, boss!”